Life with the Conleys

This weekend Josh, Eli, and I went on our first family camping trip. Some friends were supposed to accompany us but they all woke up sick the morning we were to leave. It would have been fun to have them there but we still had a nice time. We camped at a state park on Lake Easton. The water was really cold, or so I hear, but Eli didn't seem to mind the frigid water. After hitting the lake we roasted hot dogs and s'mores. A burn ban had been in effect, prohibiting campfires, but two days before we left a huge rainstorm came through and they lifted the ban. Yay! S'mores just aren't quite the same over a propane stove. The sleeping part of the trip could have been improved upon. Eli ended up in my sleeping bag for most of the night so I didn't really sleep until about 4am, when he went back into his own bed. Oh well. Who needs sleep? After a pancake breakfast we packed up and drove to the trail head for Scout Lake. The hike was about 3 miles round trip to a nice litt...

My family had an reunion of sorts a few weeks ago. While everyone was in town we took some family pictures. We haven't done family pictures in years so this was long overdue.  Just us Love these two The whole clan The originals Love my family! 

We recently upgraded our baby carrier to something more hiking friendly. The inaugural outing was a little rough because Eli wasn't feeling well. We probably should have cancelled the outing but Josh and I were both excited to try out the new carrier. It was still nice to be out in the trees soaking up some nature. Not so excited about this. He really liked playing with my hair while we hiked. I had pretty awesome post-hike hair.  Our next adventure was to Cooper Lake. It ended up being a bit more of an adventure than we anticipated when we took a wrong turn or two. It added some extra drive time to our day but the view of Mt. Rainier was worth it.   Isn't she lovely?  We found some snow! Once we got to the lake Eli had a good time exploring and throwing rocks in the water. Josh and I took turns fishing and each caught a fish or two. Josh caught two, I caught one, no pictures of any of them. Exploring Fishing Cooper Lake Th...

The day before Mother's Day we went to Northwest Trek with Lynn, Angie, and their kids, and Dan, Ashley, and their kids. It was a fun outing and everyone seemed to have a good time. We saw eagles, owls, grizzly bears, wolves, wolverine, bison, big horn sheep, mountain goats, porcupine, and many more! Coyote  Mountain Lion  An impromptu game of "Ring around the Rosie".  Otter Badger Elijah loves to spend time with his cousins! He really has a great time whenever they are around. I love that he  has cousins so close by. Yesterday we did our first hike-like outing of the year. We went to Flaming Geyser State Park, which sounds like it would be impressive but is not so. It was fun to be out of the house and seeing Eli navigate the trails was really fun. We are really looking forward to summer so we can do some more hiking and camping. Getting ready to start hiking Hiking with daddy The Flaming Geyser Navigating the root...

The only pictures we managed to take in April were of an outing to a spring fair. Josh and I both enjoy fairs and we thought Eli would as well. He wasn't sure about the petting zoo but he really liked the elephant ear. Not too certain about the goat Looking at the other animals Making a grab for the camera A few weeks after the fair was Easter and Eli participated in his first egg hunt. He didn't quite get the concept, but had a grand time anyway.  On our way to the park for the festivities Egg Hunting Got one! This was his haul  Love this guy!

No more lounging around for this baby. One year of play was enough, now it's time to get to work! Supervising Grandpa to make sure he does everything right. Pulling weeds Rock tasting. (tough job and someone has to do it) Digging That is one dirty little boy. Seems like owning a home would be loads of fun, but it turns there is a lot of work involved too. Good thing we have a helper or we wouldn't get it all done.  Really though, we love the house! There are a lot of projects that we want to get done, but I'm sure there will always be projects that we want to get done. It feels awesome to have a place to call our own. We are looking forward to years of love and laughter and joy in our new home. Work too, but that makes it even better.